Written Answers Nos. 264-288
265. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Shannon, County Clare, which should result in the creation of 15 housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19668/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Shannon, County Clare to deliver 21 new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Clare County Council.
I understand that the Council has the design for this project developed and is preparing a Part 8 planning proposal.
266. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Quilty, County Clare, which should result in the creation of ten housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19669/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Quilty, County Clare to deliver 10 new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Clare County Council.
I understand that the Council is preparing tender documents for the project at present with a view to advancing it at the earliest opportunity.
267. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Ennis, County Clare, which should result in the creation of seven housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19670/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Ennis, County Clare to deliver 7 new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Clare County Council and the approved housing body, Clare Haven Services Ltd., which is implementing the project.
I understand that the Council is currently awaiting a further submission from the approved housing body in relation to design and costing for this project.
268. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Doonbeg, County Clare, which should result in the creation of 12 housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19671/16]
View answerThe advancement of the project at Doonbeg, County Clare to deliver 12 new social housing units through design, planning and construction is a matter in the first instance for Clare County Council and the approved housing body, Kilkee Housing Association Ltd., which is implementing the project.
I understand that the approved housing body is in the process of procuring a design team to advance this project.
269. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Thomas Davis Street in Cork city which should result in the creation of 35 housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19672/16]
View answerThe advancement of the project at Thomas Davis Street in Cork city to construct 35 new social housing units through design, planning and construction is a matter in the first instance for Cork City Council and the approved housing body Respond, which is implementing the project.
I understand that the approved housing body is currently working to acquire an additional site alongside their existing site to improve the viability of this project.
270. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Vincent Avenue, St. Mary's Road in Cork city which should result in the creation of 25 housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19673/16]
View answerThe advancement of the project at Vincent Avenue, St. Mary's Road in Cork City to construct 25 new social housing units through design, planning and construction is a matter in the first instance for Cork City Council and the approved housing body Respond, which is implementing the project.
My Department is awaiting design and cost proposals from the Council and the approved housing body regarding the project.
271. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Boyces Street in Cork city which should result in the creation of 12 housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19674/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Boyces Street, in Cork City to construct 12 new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Cork City Council.
I understand that the City Council is revising the project so that it will instead provide 40 units and that the revised designs are to be forwarded by the Council to my Department shortly.
272. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Friar's Walk in Cork city which should result in the creation of four housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19675/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Friar’s Walk, in Cork City to construct 4 new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Cork City Council and the approved housing, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is implementing this project.
I understand that the City Council is awaiting a further submission on the design and costings for the project from the approved housing body.
273. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at St John's Well in Cork city which should result in the creation of two housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19676/16]
View answerThe advancement through design, planning and construction of the project at Saint John’s Well in Cork City to construct new social housing units is a matter in the first instance for Cork City Council. Since the original approval by my Department to develop 2 housing units at this site, the City Council has revised its plans and now proposes to construct 6 units there.
The revised proposal was recently submitted to my Department and has been given funding approval in principle to proceed.
274. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the construction project at Lough Road in Cork city which should result in the creation of two housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19677/16]
View answerI understand that Cork City Council has decided not to proceed with the project at Lough Road to construct 2 new social housing units as the traffic and other challenges result in it not being feasible.
275. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a scheme in relation to recycling facilities for tin, aluminium, which pays the person based on the quantity recycled as an incentive to recycle said materials; if he is aware of issues raised on a television programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19682/16]
View answerEvery Can Counts, the away from home drinks can recycling programme was launched as part of Repak Recycling Week in 2012. The partnership between drink can manufacturers and the recycling industry aims to encourage people to recycle more, whether it be at work, at college, at an event or festival or while out and about. Further information on the programme is available at www.everycancounts.ie.
In July 2014, the then Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government published a Review of the Producer Responsibility Initiative Model in Ireland. The aim of the review was to assess the nature and level of the challenges which are currently facing the existing Producer Responsibility Agreements, as well as the forthcoming challenges that are expected to arise in the management of various waste streams. My Department also completed a consultation process with stakeholders on this issue.
As part of this review, my Department sought a wider examination of issues within the packaging sphere, including consideration of a package levy and a “bring back” scheme for waste.
The review was asked to consider:
1. an economic analysis of the possible effects of a packaging levy,
2. options on how a possible packaging levy might operate,
3. possible alternatives to a packaging levy which would yield corresponding reductions in packaging,
4. how a packaging levy might work in tandem with and affect the operation of the compliance schemes, and
5. an examination of packaging reduction initiatives such as deposit and refund and reverse vending.
The review report did not recommend the introduction of a “ Deposit and Refund ” scheme as to establish such a scheme was considered inappropriate, in view of the operation of the existing scheme (operated by Repak), and policies concerning household waste collection, plus the likely high administrative costs of introducing such a system.
In addition, the review did not recommend the introduction of a packaging levy. The main reason for this decision was that the introduction of a packaging levy was likely to generate a number of regulatory costs to business and the public sector with few identifiable benefits, given Ireland’s very successful packaging recovery and recycling performance to date.
The review report is available on my Department’s website at the following link:
http://ww.environ.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/Environment/Waste/WasteManagement/FileDownLoad%2C34038%2Cen.pdf.
276. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review the efficiency of local government, including its financial and organisational remit, and best practice in other jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19777/16]
View answerLocal authorities, through the Project Management Office (PMO) of the Local Government Management Agency, have been exploring new models of service delivery in recent years and have implemented projects which are established best practice in the areas of shared services, external service delivery and procurement. The Public Service Reform Oversight Group was established to oversee the work programme of the PMO, ensure strategic alignment with the Government’s public service reform agenda and continue the drive for efficiencies in the local government sector.
Examples of this innovation include the shared payroll service MyPay, which is operational in most of the local authorities in the country, the Building Control Management System, which is an online certificate application and monitoring portal, and the establishment of a Procurement Office, which is developing procurement enabling software and introducing best practice in this field in cooperation with the national Office of Government Procurement.
Efficiency review is a continuous process within the local authority sector and will deliver further initiatives on an ongoing basis which reflect best practice internationally, resulting in better service delivery for the citizen while reducing costs.
I understand that the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) recently published progress reports by the PMO on the implementation of public service efficiency reforms recommended by the 2010 Local Government Efficiency Review and on shared services projects which were among the initiatives implemented in the local government sector as part of these reforms. These reports, along with related NOAC evaluations, are available at www.noac.ie.
277. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to provide the figures on increases under the housing assistance programme taking effect from 1 July 2016 by county in tabular form. [19778/16]
View answerThe Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is currently available in 19 Local Authority areas and to homeless households in the Dublin local authority areas under the Homeless HAP pilot. There are currently more than 10,700 households being supported by the scheme. In order to set the HAP limits at informed, practical and appropriate levels my Department has worked closely with the Department of Social Protection during the recent review of rent supplement limits, and examined data gathered through the HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) and related correspondence from local authorities.
With the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have set the maximum rent limits for different household classes that apply in each local authority where HAP has been commenced at levels that are generally identical to those for the rent supplement scheme set by the Minister for Social Protection. The ability of local authorities to meet housing need through the HAP scheme is being further enhanced by the extension of the discretionary ability of authorities to agree to payments that exceed rent limits by up to a maximum of 20%, where justified and required. The Homeless HAP pilot retains its previously defined enhanced flexibility to exceed the rent limits under the scheme.
The increased limits are available to local authorities in their determination of appropriate levels of support from 1 July 2016 and are listed in the following table:
|
- |
Household class |
||||||
|
Local authority administrative area (1) |
One adult in shared accommodation (2) |
A couple in shared accommodation (3) |
One adult (4) |
A couple (5) |
One adult, or a couple, with 1 child (6) |
One adult, or a couple, with 2 children (7) |
One adult, or a couple, with 3 children (8) |
|
Carlow County Council |
€ - 270 |
€ - 290 |
€ - 440 |
€ - 510 |
€ - 570 |
€ - 600 |
€ - 630 |
|
Clare County Council |
220 |
240 |
360 |
400 |
480 |
515 |
550 |
|
Cork City Council |
300 |
330 |
550 |
650 |
900 |
925 |
950 |
|
Cork County Council |
300 |
330 |
550 |
650 |
900 |
925 |
950 |
|
Donegal County Council |
200 |
230 |
340 |
370 |
410 |
470 |
520 |
|
Dublin City Council* |
430 |
500 |
660 |
900 |
1,250 |
1,275 |
1,300 |
|
Dun Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council* |
430 |
500 |
660 |
900 |
1,250 |
1,275 |
1,300 |
|
Fingal County Council* |
400 |
440 |
660 |
900 |
1,150 |
1,175 |
1,200 |
|
Galway County Council |
330 |
360 |
575 |
650 |
850 |
875 |
900 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
230 |
270 |
480 |
530 |
630 |
660 |
690 |
|
Limerick City and County Council |
270 |
300 |
420 |
450 |
650 |
700 |
750 |
|
Louth County Council |
310 |
350 |
575 |
650 |
975 |
1,050 |
1,100 |
|
Mayo County Council |
200 |
220 |
390 |
410 |
480 |
500 |
520 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
200 |
220 |
330 |
390 |
500 |
515 |
530 |
|
Offaly County Council |
210 |
230 |
380 |
435 |
550 |
575 |
600 |
|
Sligo County Council |
220 |
250 |
460 |
490 |
550 |
575 |
600 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
430 |
500 |
660 |
900 |
1,250 |
1,275 |
1,300 |
|
Tipperary County Council |
210 |
230 |
380 |
420 |
525 |
560 |
600 |
|
Waterford City and County Council |
240 |
270 |
430 |
450 |
550 |
575 |
600 |
*these rates are available as a basis for the homeless HAP Pilot
279. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of additional public sector staff hired in his Department over and above those who had retired or left the service, that is, new positions only as and from 31 December, 2010, broken down for each of the years 2011 to 2015 and 2016 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20142/16]
View answerThe material requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table:
|
Year |
Impact on staff numbers as a result of hiring and departures through retirement or leaving service |
|
2011 |
-11 |
|
2012 |
-4 |
|
2013 |
-3 |
|
2014 |
-6 |
|
2015 |
-1 |
|
2016 |
2 |
280. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19165/16]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 26 May 2016.
A person can be considered to be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment, self-employment or on training courses outside the home for a maximum of 15 hours per week, provided that they can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate care has been provided for the care recipient in their absence.
As the person concerned is engaged in farming as well as being a part-time relief postwoman, the matter was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) on 17 June 2016 to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied.
Once the SWI has reported, a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
281. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the State pension payments by €10; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19342/16]
View answer282. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing disability allowance by €10; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19343/16]
View answer285. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to the Exchequer of increasing basic social protection rates for the jobseeker's allowance, jobseeker's benefit, illness benefit and carer’s allowance by €5 and €10 per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19420/16]
View answer313. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full year cost in 2017 of increasing all working age payments, including the costs of proportionate increases for qualified adults, by €10, listing all working age payments in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19680/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 281, 282, 285 and 313 together.
The following table lists per scheme the indicative cost of a €10 increase in weekly rates of payment for those of pension age. The costs include a proportionate increase for recipients with qualified adults.
|
Scheme |
Cost in 2017 €m |
|
State Pension Contributory |
208.0 |
|
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Con) Pension – aged 66 or over |
44.1 |
|
Deserted Wife's Benefit – aged 66 or over |
1.2 |
|
Death Benefit Pension – aged 66 or over |
0.2 |
|
State Pension Non Contributory |
50.5 |
|
Carer's Allowance – aged 66 or over |
1.1 |
|
Half Rate Carer's Allowance – aged 66 or over |
2.6 |
|
OVERALL TOTAL |
307.7 |
The following Table details by scheme the indicative cost of a €10 increase in weekly rates of payment for those of working age. The costs include a proportionate increase for recipients with qualified adults. Listed in the table are €10 increases for recipients Disability Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, Illness Benefit and Carer’s Allowance.
|
Scheme |
Cost in 2017 €m |
|
Social Insurance Schemes |
|
|
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Con) Pension |
15.9 |
|
Deserted Wife's Benefit |
2.2 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
31.9 |
|
Guardian's Payment (Contributory) |
0.7 |
|
Disablement Pension |
3.3 |
|
Illness Benefit |
28.9 |
|
Injury Benefit |
0.7 |
|
Incapacity Supplement |
0.6 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
17.6 |
|
Carer's Benefit |
1.4 |
|
Health and Safety Benefit |
0.0 |
|
Maternity & Adoptive Benefit |
11.6 |
|
Social Assistance Schemes |
|
|
Blind Person's Pension |
0.7 |
|
Widow/ers or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Con) Pension |
0.8 |
|
Deserted Wife's Allowance |
0.1 |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
21.5 |
|
Carer's Allowance |
19.0 |
|
Half Rate Carer's Allowance |
5.2 |
|
Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) |
0.2 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance |
127.2 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance (€100 rate) |
11.6 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance (€144 rate) |
2.4 |
|
Pre-Retirement Allowance |
0.1 |
|
Disability Allowance |
70.0 |
|
Farm Assist |
5.5 |
|
Back to Education Allowance |
6.1 |
|
Back to Work Enterprise Allowance |
6.8 |
|
Community Employment Programme |
13.9 |
|
TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative |
5.2 |
|
Rural Social Scheme |
1.8 |
|
JobBridge - National Internship |
1.2 |
|
Gateway |
1.1 |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
8.8 |
|
OVERALL TOTAL |
424.0 |
The costs shown above are on a full-year basis and assume that, where relevant, each increase is implemented from the beginning of January. It should be noted that these costings relate to 2017 and are subject to change over the coming months in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2017.
283. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of carer's support grants paid during June 2016; if all of the automatic renewals have been paid; and if not, the number which remain unpaid and when they will be paid. [19404/16]
View answerThe Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment made by my Department to full-time carers. It is paid automatically to carers who are already in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care Allowance. Payment is made on the 1st Thursday in June. This year, some 86,000 of these carers received the Grant on 2 June. All carers who were automatically eligible for the 2016 Grant on that date have received payment.
284. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to the Exchequer of restoring child benefit to families with children in full-time second level education but who have reached 18 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19419/16]
View answerChild Benefit is currently paid to around 624,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure in the order of over €2 billion in 2016. Child Benefit is an important source of income for all families and in Budget 2016 the Government increased Child Benefit by €5 per month, at a cost of €72 million.
Budget 2009 reduced the age for eligibility for Child Benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years.
The cost of extending child benefit to 18 year olds in second level education is estimated at €62.5 million. As child benefit is a universal payment, this proposal would not be targeted. Families on low incomes can avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:
- qualified child increases (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;
- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children;
- the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low income families (paid at the full-time second level education rate).
These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked with household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.
Extending Child Benefit to students who are in full-time secondary education and who have reached 18 years of age can be examined between now and the budget with the caveat that there are potentially other areas of need that also have to be accounted for.
Any changes to the eligibility criteria for Child Benefit, therefore, would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.
286. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will examine the supports for working artists in the social protection system; and if he will relax activation rules for working artists to allow them to support themselves (details supplied). [19817/16]
View answerThe jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2016 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.8 billion.
It is accepted that periods of unemployment are a normal feature of the acting and artistic professions and people in these professions can qualify for a jobseeker’s payment when they are unemployed. Jobseeker’s payments compensate for periods of involuntary unemployment only and it is not the function of my Department to provide income support through the jobseeker’s schemes to any group, including artists during periods of unemployment, which are involuntary. For this reason, social welfare legislation provides that all jobseekers must satisfy certain qualifying conditions in order to be entitled to an unemployment payment including, being available for full-time work and be genuinely seeking work. The legislation does not impose any restriction or limitation on the right of a person to the opportunity to engage in the employment of his or her choice. All unemployed persons should avail of reasonable employment opportunities and Artists are treated no differently to any other unemployed person. My Department’s INTREO service now provides a more focussed service to those in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment, including artists.
My Department has no plans to introduce new sector specific working age payments that provide exemptions to be available for and genuinely seeking employment.
It is essential to the sustainability and integrity of the jobseeker’s schemes that these criteria remain a core feature of the State’s supports for the unemployed.
287. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will examine the case of a person (details supplied) who has had their jobseeker's payment stopped; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19071/16]
View answerOne of the conditions of entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) is that the person concerned must be available for and genuinely seeking work. Time spent in full-time education or training of a short or long-term nature therefore does not meet this condition. The person concerned has notified his local Intreo office of the start and end dates of the course so his JB payment will be restored later this week on completion of his studies.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
288. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the current waiting time for processing carer's allowance appeals in the social protection appeals office; the assistance available to persons who are providing full time care without any social protection payment during this time; the efforts he will make to reduce the waiting times in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19099/16]
View answerI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the current average processing time for carer’s allowance appeals determined following an oral hearing is 22.4 weeks and 18.2 weeks for carer’s allowance appeals determined summarily.
Where claimants have been refused a payment and are appealing the decision, if their means are insufficient to meet their needs pending the outcome of the appeal, it is open to them to apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance in the interim. If their application for Supplementary Welfare Allowance is not successful, they can also appeal that decision. Supplementary Welfare Allowance appeals are prioritised for attention within the Social Welfare Appeals Office as soon as the appeal file and submission are received from the Department.
The unprecedented increase in overall appeal receipts since 2009 placed considerable pressure on the appeals office and impacted adversely on processing times. The number of appeals received increased from an average of 15,000 per year up to 2009, to a peak of 35,500 in 2012, reducing annually thereafter to just below 25,000 in 2015.
Significant effort and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeals process in recent years:
- Additional appeals officers were appointed to the office
- An overhaul of the operating model was undertaken
- New technology to support appeals officers was introduced
- Work was undertaken with the Department to reduce delays in responding to requests from the appeals office for appeal submissions.
This resulted in a marked improvement in overall appeal processing times. The average time taken to determine an appeal requiring an oral hearing reduced from 52.5 weeks in 2011 to 25.5 weeks in 2015 and the average time taken to finalise an appeal decided by way of a summary decision dropped from 25.1 weeks in 2011 to 18.1 weeks in 2015. This downward trend in overall appeal processing times has continued to date in 2016 to 23.9 weeks for an oral hearing and 17.2 weeks for a summary decision.
The improvement is also reflected in processing times for carer’s allowance appeals where the average time taken to determine a carer’s allowance appeal requiring an oral hearing reduced from 57.9 weeks in 2011 to 25.5 weeks in 2015 and to 22.4 weeks to date in 2016. The average time taken to finalise a carer’s allowance appeal decided by way of a summary decision has reduced from 31.3 weeks in 2011 to 20.6 weeks in 2015 and to 18.2 weeks to date in 2016.
The quasi-judicial nature of the appeals system means that there are inevitable time-lags involved. The system is designed to be flexible and fair and allows for review and submission of further information up to and including the oral hearing. The time taken is proportionate to the complexity of many of the issues under appeal, which require a high level of judgement and often involve complex legal questions.
A number of elements within the process are time-consuming including the need to ensure due process, natural justice and compliance with the statutory obligation to obtain the Department’s appeal submission. If an oral hearing is requested by the appellant or is required to resolve conflicts, the processing time is prolonged.
The Chief Appeals Officer assures me that appeals processing times are continuously monitored and that, although significant progress has been made in reducing appeal processing times in recent years, continued improvement in this area remains a priority.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
